Bridge the Master Builder

I went to a party last Friday and got incredibly drunk and ended up vomiting several times. It was a huge mistake that I don't plan on repeating so please, spare me the lectures. Anyway, I had scotch, rum and Armagnac while I was there and now, 4 days later, I cannot stand the smell or taste of any of them. They make me incredibly queasy and taste and smell like vomit (understandably). Could any of you with a lot of experience with heavy drinking tell me if this eventually subsides (if so, how long does it take to go away?) or if I have spoiled them forever? I'm a big fan of scotch and just bought an expensive bottle so it would be a real shame if I will never be able to enjoy them again. Thanks in advance.

So I finally decided to get myself a bottle of fine scotch and since somebody recommended Glenlivet and it's readily available I decided upon that (it gets fairly good reviews too from the looks of it). Anyway, I was wondering which is the better choice, the 18yo or the 15yo Reserve. The 18yo is obviously aged 3 years longer and is slightly stronger (43%) but the 15yo is aged in the high quality french oak casks. Normally I would say go for the 18yo but where I am there isn't a lot of variety so the only 1L Glenlivet bottles are the 15yo Reserve bottles. Since the difference in price is not that much, I figured if they are almost equal I would go for the 1L just to have a little more of it. If the 18yo is better by far I will definitely buy that though. Could anybody help? Thanks in advance.

Never had scotch before and so I was thinking of buying a bottle of this soon. I've read that the 17 year old Ballantine's is excellent but I can't get it here - only the 12 year old. Any scotch connoisseurs that can tell me whether this is a good first scotch (I know it's blended, but there aren't any good single malt available here)?

I'm a huge honey fan (you wouldn't believe it) and I have wanted to try mead ever since I first heard of it in Norse mythology and looked it up. Unfortunately I cannot find it anywhere (in Iceland - go figure) and am wondering if any mead aficionados can recommend some meadish blends that would taste good. The only thing I have is Stoli red label 76 proof vodka and some Turkish Buram dark honey. What mixture of vodka and honey would make it taste somewhat like mead (obviously it's never going to be the same as the real thing, but a mead newb may not pick up on the subtleties).

I'm looking to get into cognac but the steep prices on the high-end bottles is slightly off-turning. The most appealing brand I found was the Meukow very special old pale because I've heard it's smooth and it is not outrageously expensive. What do you cognac connoiseurs think of the Meukow VSOP (I've heard the XO bottles are high quality)? Is it too cheap (one of the cheapest brands I found) or is it alright? I've never had cognac before so I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether this is a good place to start or not.